


square one

by marcel



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, M/M, implied xiuhan lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 12:05:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7801237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcel/pseuds/marcel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hospital AU. As kids, Chanyeol always took care of Jongin. When they meet again years later, the tables have turned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	square one

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this tweet](https://twitter.com/chankaiprompts/status/562707808316305409)!
> 
> (originally posted on 2/17/15)

"Just a little further," Chanyeol urges, tugging Jongin forward. It's easy enough to keep up with Chanyeol at a run, but having to hop on one foot leaves Jongin lagging behind. He sniffles and tightens his grip on Chanyeol's hand, doing his best to totter the last few feet to the front steps of Chanyeol's house.

Jongin wasn't sure about going there at first, but Chanyeol had insisted that Jongin's house was too far to hop to. Chanyeol isn't the one hopping, though, because Chanyeol isn't the one who tripped on the sidewalk and scraped his knee. Jongin sniffles again, trying to ignore the sting as Chanyeol helps him sit down on the steps.

With his legs bent, Jongin can't help looking at the gross red scrape. It hadn't seemed so bad when he first tripped on the sidewalk, but the blood he'd found smeared there scared him. Chanyeol said it wasn't as awful as it looked, and Jongin trusts him because he's turning _seven_ in a few months, but just because it isn't awful doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

In fact, it seems to hurt more the longer Jongin looks at it. He feels tears welling up in his eyes and tries to wipe them away. He hadn't cried at the park or on the way to Chanyeol's house, but now that he's sitting down his knee throbs more than ever, and he can't blink the wetness out of his eyes anymore.

He tries his best to hide his face, but Chanyeol notices and sits down next to him with a frown. "Jongin? Are you okay?"

Jongin makes himself nod. He really doesn't want to cry in front of Chanyeol, but one more glance at his knee has his tears spilling over.

A moment later, he feels Chanyeol's arm sliding over his shoulders, and he's pulled into a half-hug. "Why are you crying?" Chanyeol asks, ducking his head to peer at him.

"It hurts," Jongin sobs. The stinging scrape looks even more gross and scary through his tears.

"I can help, okay? Don't cry," Chanyeol says, unwinding from around Jongin and hopping up the steps to the door. "I just need'a get something. Wait here."

He disappears through the door before Jongin can say anything, but reappears just as quick with a box of cleaning pads and a bandaid clutched in his hands.

"We only have Pororo ones," he starts to explain, holding the bandaid out as he shuts the door, but Jongin cuts him off with another loud sniffle, and Chanyeol whips around to look at him.

"Jongin! Don't cry, I said!"

"I'm trying!" Jongin wails, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the tears. When he peeks out again, Chanyeol is crouched in front of him, frowning.

"Does it really hurt that much?" he asks. Jongin nods, hiccuping a little. Chanyeol looks down at the scrape on his knee, then back up to Jongin's face. After a moment, he reaches out and pats Jongin's head. "How 'bout now?"

"Hurts," Jongin mumbles, sniffling again. Taking his hand back, Chanyeol frowns even deeper.

They stare at each other for a moment, Jongin's puffy red eyes meeting Chanyeol's wide worried ones, then Chanyeol perks up with an idea. Before Jongin can even open his mouth to ask what it is, Chanyeol leans forward and plants a sweet, smacking kiss on his cheek.

He pulls back just as fast, staring at him and waiting for Jongin's reaction. He looks so serious about something that felt so silly that Jongin can't help giggling, and Chanyeol grins. He leans in, kissing Jongin's cheeks again and again until the tears in Jongin's eyes are from laughter instead.

"How 'bout now?" Chanyeol asks when he pulls away, still grinning.

Jongin can only smile back at him, and he only sniffles once.

Chanyeol takes care of his knee after that, cleaning it gently enough so that it barely stings. He places the Pororo bandaid neatly over the scrape, making sure the ends lie flat, then leans down and plants a kiss in the centre of it. He rocks back on his heels, grinning up at Jongin. "All better!"

Jongin gapes at him, amazed. His knee really does feel better, barely even stinging anymore. He wipes away the last of his tears as Chanyeol moves to sit beside him on the steps.

“Thank you,” he whispers, marvelling at the perfect bandaid application. “You should be a doctor!”

“Nah,” Chanyeol says, leaning back on his palms and giving Jongin a sunny smile. “I’m gonna join the circus. _You_ can be a doctor.”  


\--

“Earth to Jongin,” Junmyeon says, poking the side of Jongin’s head.

Jongin blinks sleepily for a moment before remembering where he is - the hospital, right, because he's definitely supposed to be on shift right now. He'd sat down in the hall during a lull to rest his eyes and must've fallen asleep instead.

“You alright?” Junmyeon asks, looking ready to poke him again, but Jongin bats his hand away.

“Yeah, sorry,” he sighs. “Just tired. I had a weird dream last night.” He furrows his brow, trying to remember. “Something about… the circus...?”

Junmyeon laughs. “Sounds nice. We need you to stay awake a little longer, though, okay?”

Jongin shakes his head a little to clear it. “What time is it?”

“Three-thirty. You’re off at six, right?”

“Nine,” Jongin says with a yawn. “Twelve hour day.”

Junmyeon pats his shoulder sympathetically. “Well, I’ll still be here. If you get bored when your EMT shift ends, I’m sure I can find you something to do for the rest of the night.”

The pager on Jongin's belt chooses that moment to go off. Jongin takes a quick glance at the screen and stands up. "I don't think I'll ever get bored, working here."

"That's fair," Junmyeon laughs, waving him away. "You'd better go, or Minseok will leave without you."

Luckily, Minseok doesn't. He's standing by the doors when Jongin reaches the waiting ambulance, and they climb in together. Minseok fills him in as the ambulance speeds across town, relaying the phone call they’d gotten: a young man blacked out during a soccer match, either from the ball that caught him in the face or something else.

Jongin likes Minseok, likes how straightforward he is, yet kind. His in-hospital shifts with Junmyeon are nice and all, but first-response is a different ballgame, and Minseok is steady, comforting presence when things are hectic.

Today, though, nothing seems quite so frantic. They hop out of the ambulance at the edge of a sunny park, and jog across the grass to the soccer field.

There’s a small group gathered around someone lying on the ground, but they move off at the sight of their EMT uniforms. When the crowd parts, Jongin can see that the someone is a boy in a soccer jersey with a red mark on his forehead. He looks disgruntled, yet definitely not awake.

It seems like it could be something serious, but as soon as Minseok touches the boy’s wrist to check his pulse, his eyes flutter open and he sits up. The crowd dissipates with a collective sigh of relief while the boy looks around in confusion.

Jongin lets himself feel a little relieved as well. False alarms can be frustrating, but it’s nice when, once in a while, no one is seriously injured. He watches as Minseok explains to the boy - Luhan, according to the back of his jersey - how he came to be passed out in the middle of the field.

“So I fainted?” Luhan asks, rubbing the mark on his forehead with one hand and grasping Minseok’s shoulder with the other.

“Knocked out, more like,” Minseok says. “The soccer ball must’ve hit you pretty hard. Still, even minor cranial trauma can result in a blackout.”

“A blackout,” Luhan repeats, then looks up at Minseok with a flirty expression. “So you’re not an angel, then?”

“Nope,” Minseok says with a thin smile, and prys Luhan’s hand off him.

Jongin gives him an icepack for the bump and a kind smile for his efforts, and leaves him looking a little forlorn as he follows Minseok back to the ambulance.

“Well,” Minseok sighs once they’re on their way, “that wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting.”

Jongin looks up at him. “What were you expecting?”

“Something worse than that,” Minseok says, waving his hand. “A lot of serious injuries happen in sports, especially head injuries - he could’ve easily gotten a concussion, at the very least. He’s lucky to get off with just a bump and a bruise.”

Jongin snickers a little. “I guess if you always expect the worst, our job will always seem easier than it could be.”

Minseok smiles, shrugging as he leans back in his seat. “Bad things happen, people get hurt. We just do our best to help.”

And they do. As hard as it is, sometimes, to spend so long in and around the hospital, Jongin likes his job. He likes helping people, and he wouldn't trade this for anything - and the people he gets to work with are a nice plus, he supposes as they enter the hospital, and Minseok pats his shoulder before slipping away.

Jongdae waves him over when he gets to the lobby, looking put-together as always despite his scrubs. "That didn't take long," he says with a smile. "Was it a prank call, or what?"

"No," Jongin sighs. "Just not something that needed a whole ambulance."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Jongdae points out, slinging his arm over Jongin's shoulder. "It could've been worse, but it wasn't. You’re allowed to be relieved."

He knocks their heads together lightly, and Jongin laughs as he tries to shrug him off. "I know, I _am_ relieved."

"There's always a bright side," Jongdae sing-songs, and scurries away back to whatever nurse duties he has to take care of just as Minseok reappears by the exit, looking a little out of breath.

"Another call came in," he says, waving Jongin over. "Time to go."

It's not unusual to have little-to-no downtime in between emergency calls, Jongin knows, and he's used to the fast pace, but he still gets a kick of adrenaline every time he has to rush to the ambulance bay.

"Local concert venue," Minseok explains as they buckle in. "This band's bassist fell off the stage - after their show ended, luckily. It didn't sound too bad when the call came in, but you never know."

The drive doesn't take long, and soon enough they're hopping out by the entrance of the venue. A short, worried-looking boy meets them in the lobby and leads the way to the concert hall. He has dark makeup around his eyes, although most of it seems to have been rubbed off.

"Are you a member of the band?" Jongin asks him as they hurry through the doors.

The boy nods, answer somewhat halting. "I'm-- Kyungsoo. Vocals."

"And your bass player is the one who fell?"

"Yeah, he's..." Kyungsoo trails off in favour of leading them past the rows of seats, then gestures to the still-lit stage. "We were halfway through packing up when he fell."

As they get closer to the stage, Jongin can see two other boys crowded around a third, sitting on the side-stage steps looking uncomfortable.

"He-- there was a feedback speaker at the edge of the stage,” Kyungsoo explains, voice wavering a little. “He tripped over it and his foot got caught in the cables behind it. Something's wrong with his leg."

Minseok ushers Kyungsoo and the other two band members away, leaving Jongin with their injured bassist. He slips the first-aid kit off his shoulder and kneels in front of the guy to get a closer look at his leg in the light from the stage. His right one is bent at the knee and resting a couple steps lower than the one he's sitting on, but his left is extended, not entirely straight. Jongin can tell he's trying not to put any weight on it, even sitting down.

"My name is Jongin," he says, his tone a practiced sort of calm. "I'm a paramedic. I'm going to help you, okay?"

He glances up to make sure the guy nods, taking in his pained grimace before looking back at his leg. “Alright, Mr…?”

“Park,” the guy manages, trying to sit up a little, “but just call me-- _ahh fuck_ \--” He cuts himself off with a hiss when he shifts his other foot.

“Don’t try to move,” Jongin says soothingly, and helps him lean back against the steps again. “Just tell me where it hurts.”

He uses both hands to make his way down the bassist’s leg, starting at his knee and pressing gently every few centimetres. The guy takes in a few sharp breaths at different points but doesn’t say anything, and Jongin can’t feel anything wrong - until he reaches the middle of the shinbone and Jongin’s lightest touch has the guy jerking upright with a yelp.

“Careful,” Jongin says immediately, trying to push him back down, but he fights to stay sitting up. “You need to lie back, your leg might be--”

“Don’t touch it, that fucking _hurt_ \--”

“Mr Park, please hold still--”

“ _Ouch_ , jesus _christ_ \--”

With a huff, Jongin grips his shoulders and leans into him, using his own weight to press him back. He meets the bassist’s eyes with a stern look once he stops struggling, but the wide-eyed gaze he gets in return is suddenly… familiar.

“Chanyeol?” Jongin chokes out, blinking down at him. “Park Chanyeol?”

“Jongin,” Chanyeol breathes - and it must be Chanyeol, because he laughs a second later and the sound is just as familiar to Jongin. “No way, is it really you?”

Jongin gapes for a moment before managing to nod. It’s hard to find words in the mess of memories spilling into his mind, and even harder to say them. “I can’t believe-- I-I thought you moved to--”

“I came back,” Chanyeol says simply, a grin spreading on his face. “I have a band, now.”

“I... can see that.” Jongin stares at him for another long moment before looking down between them. “Your leg is broken.”

“It is,” Chanyeol says, sounding entirely unsurprised. “Where’s the ambulance?”  


\--

Chanyeol’s leg is indeed broken, but not so much as to require surgery to fix, Junmyeon tells Jongin once they’re back at the hospital.

“We’re making him a cast, and he’ll stay here for a couple days,” he explains, rounding a corner with Jongin hurrying after him. “That’s about it, though.”

Jongin lets out a long sigh of relief that he hadn’t realized he was holding in. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Do you know each other?” Junmyeon asks. “He kept asking about you, is all.”

“He did?” Jongin feels his cheeks flushing red and looks away before Junmyeon can see. “We-- we were friends when we were kids. I haven’t seen him in… a long time.”

Junmyeon hums. “You must be happy."

“I am,” Jongin says, quieter. He’s pretty sure he is, at least. It’s hard to tell when the shock is still wearing off.

What he can tell, though, is that he can't seem to keep his mind from wandering back to Chanyeol. How long _has_ it been since they saw each other last? Jongin has wondered about him, sometimes, but he never thought Chanyeol would ever be so close without him knowing.

Jongin spends the rest of his shift hanging around the hospital wing that Chanyeol is recovering in, running errands for the nurses and, sometimes, taking detours to walk past Chanyeol's room. His bandmates are keeping him company for now, which is nice, and as much as Jongin wants to go see Chanyeol himself, he figures he should give him some space for now.

He manages to hold out until he's roped in by Jongdae to help him sort through some old patient files in a disused filing room. It's kind of a menial task, but it passes the time, and Jongdae is always nice to be around.

"There you are," Junmyeon says from the doorway, and Jongdae smiles as he steps into the room. "I've been looking all over for you."

"Need something?" Jongdae asks, looking prepared to drop the entire stack of folders he's holding. Jongin plucks them out of his hands, just in case.

"Yixing does, not me," Junmyeon says. "He sent me to find you. He's waiting in Cardiology."

Jongdae pouts a little, apparently disappointed to be called away by someone other than Junmyeon, but he saunters out the door all the same. Jongin is left alone with the filing cabinets and Junmyeon, who smiles at him instead of leaving.

To his credit, Jongin does try his best to continue sorting the files by himself, but he's a lot slower than Jongdae was. It only takes a few seconds of watching him for Junmyeon to come over and take them out of his hands to do the task himself. Jongin lets him, silence settling between them for a moment.

"So," Junmyeon says, casually breaking it. "Park Chanyeol's bandmates left a little while ago."

Jongin hopes he doesn’t look as tense as he feels. “Oh.”

“Nearly caused a riot in the lobby,” Junmyeon goes on, still flicking through the files. “They must have a lot of fans.”

Jongin just nods, rooted to the spot until Junmyeon looks up at him. “Well? You want to see him, don’t you?”

“W-well, I--”

“Just go,” Junmyeon laughs, and Jongin hopes for the second time that Junmyeon doesn’t notice his blush as he stumbles his way out of the room.

He all but runs through the halls towards Chanyeol's room, but still hesitates for a moment in front of the door. What if Chanyeol is asleep? Surely breaking a leg takes a lot out of a person, plus he had a lot of people in to see him already. But on the other hand, Jongin supposes, what if Chanyeol is still scared of needles like he used to be, and being alone in a place capable of giving him an IV drip is freaking him out? It's a stretch, Jongin knows, but it makes opening the door a little easier.

Chanyeol looks up in surprise when Jongin comes into view, but grins widely as soon as he realizes who’s come to see him.

“Jongin!” He immediately tries to sit up, even though it looks sort of uncomfortable with the huge cast on his leg.

“Don’t try to move so much,” Jongin scolds, rushing forward to help. He lets up only when every pillow in the room is stacked behind Chanyeol to keep him upright, and then sits gingerly on the edge of the bed. “So… how are you feeling?”

“Good!” Chanyeol says, still grinning. “I mean, my leg hurts. And this cast itches. And the coffee here tastes kind of weird? But I’m good!”

“That’s… good,” Jongin manages.

It's a little weird, how different he is from the kid Jongin used to know - and yet he's still so clearly the same. He catches Jongin in this strange space between foreign and familiar, and Jongin doesn't quite know which way he wants to lean.

“Things have really changed, huh?”

Jongin blinks, coming back to himself. “Y-yeah, I guess we both grew up. You didn’t join the circus, though.”

“But you became a doctor,” Chanyeol says, quiet, like he can’t quite believe it. Then he laughs. “I used to be the one to help with _your_ bumps and bruises, remember? I mean, I never had to set any broken bones, but still.”

Jongin laughs along with him. “Hey, you were pretty good with bandaids. And you’d always kiss me better.”

Chanyeol looks a little stunned, and it takes Jongin a moment to realize what he’s said. He ducks his head in embarrassment, a blush spreading over his cheeks. “S-sorry. Forget I said that, okay--”

But Chanyeol reaches out to touch his face, tilting his jaw back up so Jongin can see that he’s smiling.

“I missed you,” he says softly. “I know it’s been a long time, but… I always wondered what you were doing, and if I’d see you again.”

A quiet _me too_ is on the tip of Jongin’s tongue, but it twists at the last moment. “Why?” he asks instead. “We barely know each other anymore.”

“That’s true,” Chanyeol agrees, his hand falling away. “But if you’ve got time… I want to know you again.”

Jongin looks up in surprise, and Chanyeol smiles at him shyly. “I’m gonna be here for a while,” he adds, gesturing at his cast, “so, if you want, you know--”

“I do,” Jongin says quickly. “I-- I really do.”

Chanyeol smiles wider. “Good.”

They both go quiet for a moment, and Chanyeol moves his hand to cover Jongin's on the bedspread. The warmth of his palm is-- comfortable. Easy. Thrilling in a way Jongin knows it didn't used to be.

“You know,” Chanyeol says quietly, “I’m kind of glad I fell off the stage.”

Jongin snorts, shaking his head at him. “You really shouldn’t be. Your leg--”

“Is broken,” Chanyeol finishes for him, laughing a little, “and I know I’m on like three different painkillers right now, but…” He shrugs. “I can’t help feeling happy about it.”

“Why would you be _happy_ to have a broken leg?”

“Well.” Chanyeol looks up at him with another shy smile. “We met again because of it, didn’t we?”

Jongin's heart does some sort of flip in his chest. His cheeks must be so red, there's no way Chanyeol hasn't noticed, especially with how close their faces are - but when did that happen, Jongin wonders. Did he lean in himself or was it Chanyeol, he can't remember--

A loud beeping startles them apart, and Jongin flushes as he digs his phone out of his pocket to silence it. "That's my end-of-shift alarm," he explains sheepishly. "Junmyeon - your doctor - doesn't like me to stay later than I'm supposed to."

Chanyeol snickers, rubbing the back of his head. “I guess visiting hours are over, huh?”

“Y-yeah.” Jongin stands up, but Chanyeol grabs his hand again before he can move away.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Jongin blinks down at him. “No?”

Chanyeol gestures at his leg again. “You’re supposed to kiss it better.”

“I’m not kissing your gross cast,” Jongin snickers, and Chanyeol glares at him playfully before tugging on his hand again.

“Okay, compromise.” He taps his cheek. “Here instead.”

Jongin wants to laugh at first - it’s something they used to do as kids, silly and affectionate and reserved for cheering each other up. Chanyeol must mean it as a joke, right?

But Chanyeol seems tense even under the smile on his face. His grip on Jongin’s hand loosens, like he’s already expecting Jongin to pull away.

Jongin takes only a few seconds to decide to lean in, and the kiss he presses to Chanyeol’s cheek is soft but lingering - and when he leans back, it takes Chanyeol only a moment to turn his head and catch Jongin’s lips with his own.

Jongin makes a surprised noise against his mouth but Chanyeol doesn't pull away. With his free hand he cups Jongin's jaw, tilting his face just a little so their mouths fit together more comfortably. The slide of his lips is so enticing, so easy to melt into. Jongin catches himself pressing forward eagerly, so embarrassingly into it that a low whine escapes before he can stop it.

Chanyeol does pull away at that, far enough so that Jongin can see both the grin on his face and the redness of his cheeks. He's sure his own face must be the same colour by now. "Sorry," he says, a little breathless.

"Don't be," Chanyeol says quickly, moving his hand on Jongin's face to brush his cheekbone, then lower, dragging his thumb across Jongin's bottom lip. He lingers there for a moment, holding Jongin still while his eyes roam over him, then drops his hand. "You should probably go, or I'll want to keep you here all night."

Jongin flushes anew at his words, nearly stumbling when he stands up. He pauses at the door, one hand on the knob as he looks back at Chanyeol. "I-I'll come back tomorrow," he says, as steadily as he can manage. "On my break, and stuff. We can start... getting to know each other. Again."

"Whatever you want," Chanyeol says, his smile soft. "Goodnight, Jongin."

Jongin can't help smiling back at him. "Goodnight."  


\--

"Your boyfriend's here," Jongdae whispers as he passes Jongin, a knowing smirk on his face. "Again."

Jongin blushes but tries to put on a stern face as he marches out to the waiting room. Sure enough, Chanyeol is there, his sunny grin looking a little out of place next to the broken-nosed man sitting beside him.

He stands up quickly enough and limps only a little as he makes his way over to Jongin - his cast had come off a week earlier, and it's almost strange to see him without the hulking plaster. "Jongin!"

"Chanyeol," Jongin says, trying to sound firm, but he can feel his resolve melting away under the force of Chanyeol's grin. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm injured," Chanyeol says, sounding entirely too pleased about it. He holds up his hands, showing off the bloodied tips of his fingers. "I couldn't play much while my leg was healing, and when I shredded bass during practice today, this happened."

Unable to keep a smile off his face, Jongin reaches up to hold Chanyeol's hands together in his own. "You didn't need to come to the hospital for this," he points out.

"But," Chanyeol protests, his face falling, "I wanted to see you."

Jongin blushes so hard he's sure he can feel it down to his toes. "You can see me when I'm not at work," he splutters.

"Really?" Chanyeol asks, then, without missing a beat, "How 'bout tonight? Eight o'clock? My place? I'll make you dinner."

His sly grin is really too much. "Why are you doing this _here_?" Jongin whines.

"I hope you still like pasta," Chanyeol says, leaning in to kiss his cheek before slipping away.

" _Chanyeol_ ," Jongin squeaks, his hand flying up to his cheek, but Chanyeol is already heading for the exit, waving to him as he goes.

"See you tonight," he calls, grin still in place, then disappears through the sliding doors.

Jongin stands there for a moment, hand still covering the kissed spot, before he realizes just how many people in the waiting room are staring at him. He scurries back to the nurses' station as fast as his wobbly knees will let him, and spends the rest of his shift pink-faced.


End file.
